Is all of this weather damage worse than what happens when living in the van
on the road for two and a half years?

Joy

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Joy Hecht
now living in a real house in northern Virginia
and Matilda, 1989 Burgundy Vanagon
now living in the driveway and resting after two and a half years
lugging Joy and her stuff around...

For musings about life and the vanadventures:
http://www.joyhecht.net

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:::-----Original Message-----
:::From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM] On Behalf
:::Of JordanVw@AOL.COM
:::Sent: Saturday, September 09, 2006 11:14 AM
:::To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
:::Subject: storing vanagons (was Re: Parking Matilda ..non-waltzing matilda
:::
:::In a message dated 9/9/06 10:42:30 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
:::thorgk@ACCESSCOMM.CA writes:
:::
:::
:::> Try and fing some where under cover to keep Matlda.  From my experience
:::> nothing ages these cars faster than sitting out in the sun and weather
:::without
:::> being used.  All the plastic, fiberglass and rubber parts seem to
:::deteriorate.
:::>  The canvas and the inside of the pop top get damp and discolour.
:::Westies
:::> like to sleep somewhere dark and dry.
:::>
:::>
:::
:::i second this.  my 2 keepers i store indoors in my folks huge barn..  the
:::parts vans sit outside, and i have watched them rapidly deteriorate from
:::the
:::elements.
:::for example, it have a 90 GL parts van i have gutted and now use as parts
:::storage shed.  this is a Bordeaux (burgundy) color.
:::the van had been rearended with 65k miles when i got it as a pars car
:::about 6
:::yrs ago. the paint was in excellent condition when i got it, and there
:::was no
:::seam rust.
:::
:::now the clearcoat is totally baked off the roof, and the clearcoat on the
:::sides is all crazed/spiderwebbed from the UV rays.  i have also watched
:::seam rust
:::appear in the rear 1/4 panels where the horizontal seam is, and the seam
:::above the front bumper rebar - which had none when i parked it.   this is
:::rust
:::just from sitting outside. not to mention the mold and critters which
:::call it
:::home now..wasp nests in every orifice..
:::
:::parking a vehicle outside 24/7 accelerates deterioration rapidly.. invest
:::in
:::a good quality breathable car cover or one of those pre-fab aluminum
:::carports
:::they can be had for under $900) if you dont have a garage..
:::
:::chris